1. Field
One or more embodiments of the present invention relate to an organic light emitting display and a method of driving the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various flat panel displays (FPD) that are lighter in weight and smaller in volume than comparable cathode ray tube (CRT) displays are being developed. Non-limiting examples of the FPDs include a liquid crystal display (LCD), a field emission display (FED), a plasma display panel (PDP), and an organic light emitting display.
Among the FPDs, the organic light emitting display displays an image using organic light emitting diodes (OLED) that generate light by re-combination of electrons and holes generated to correspond to the flow of current.
The organic light emitting display is widely utilized in a personal digital assistant (PDA), an MP3 player, and/or a mobile telephone due to its excellent color reproducibility and small thickness.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the structure of an organic light emitting display according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the organic light emitting display includes a pixel unit (a display region) 10, a data driver 20, a scan driver 30, and a controller 40.
A plurality of pixels 11 are arranged in the pixel unit 10 and each of the pixels 11 includes an organic light emitting diode (OLED) that emits light to correspond to the flow of current therein. The pixel unit 10 includes n scan lines S1, S2, . . . , Sn−1, and Sn formed to extend in a first direction (a row direction) and to transmit scan signals, and m data lines D1, D2, . . . , Dm−1, and Dm formed to extend in a second direction (a column direction) crossing the first direction and to transmit data signals.
In addition, the pixel unit 10 receives a first power of a first power source and a second power of a second power source having a lower voltage level than that of the first power source to be driven. Therefore, in the pixel unit 10, current flows to the OLED by utilizing the scan signals, the data signals, the first power source, and the second power source to emit light and to display an image.
The data driver 20 receives data driver control signals DCS and image signals R, G, B data from the controller 40 to generate the data signals. The data driver 20 is coupled to the data lines D1, D2, . . . , Dm−1, and Dm of the pixel unit 10 to apply the generated data signals to the pixel unit 10.
The scan driver 30 receives scan driver control signals SCS from the controller 40 to generate the scan signals. The scan driver 30 is coupled to the scan lines S1, S2, . . . , Sn−1, and Sn to transmit the scan signals to specific rows of the pixel unit 10. The data signal output from the data driver 20 is transmitted to the pixel 11 where the scan signal is transmitted so that the voltage corresponding to the data signal is transmitted to the pixel 11.
The controller 40 controls the data driver 20 and the scan driver 30 so that the pixel unit 10 can display an image.
When the above structured organic light emitting display is used for a mobile telephone, in a standby mode, an image representing date and hour is displayed only on a partial region of the pixel unit and the image is not displayed on the remaining region, that is, the remaining region is displayed black (displays no emitting light).
The image is displayed only on the partial region (a partial screen) in order to reduce power consumption and to increase the use time of a battery of the organic light emitting display.
However, in the standby mode where there are many regions displayed black, the data driver 20 is driven in the same way. Therefore, the power consumptions of the data driver 20 do not change in the standby mode. Therefore, in order to reduce power consumption, an improved method of reducing power consumption in the data driver 20 in the standby mode is needed.